The present invention relates to magnetic transducer head assemblies such as are commonly used for recording, reproducing, or erasing information with respect to a magnetic record medium, such as a tape or disk.
Magnetic transducer head assemblies include a magnetic head, or more usually, a plurality of heads each having a magnetic core defining a pair of pole faces and a gap therebetween constituting the flux generating and receiving portion of the head. For optimum operation, the pole faces should be located as close as possible to the record medium; some heads operate while in actual contact with the record medium, which causes wear to occur in the pole faces. The dimensions of the gap are very critical, and the wear may unknowingly proceed to a point where the gap dimensions are so changed as to produce an intolerable degradation of the recording signal. This may result in the loss or distortion of valuable data. It may also result in a substantial down-time of the apparatus to replace the worn-out head by another, particularly if replacement heads are not readily available at the location where the apparatus is being used.
It has already been proposed (see for example U.S. Pat. No. 3,495,049) to provide magnetic transducer heads with wear indicators in the form of embedded colored beads or bars, electrical conductors, or electrical contacts, which provide an indication when the head wear has proceeded to a predetermined point. Such constructions, however, require significant changes in the design of the head, and/or manufacturing techniques for producing them in order to incorporate the wear indicator, and therefore add substantially to the cost of producing such heads.